Vitsebsk: Street cleaner obliged to agitate for candidate Auchynnikau

On 27 September in the morning election observers saw a street cleaner Alena Marhalava posting leaflets in support of a pro-governmental candidate Viktar Auchynnikau near the porches of houses on the territory of Vitsebsk-Chkalauskaya electoral constituency #18, where the candidate is running. Together with the leaflets she posted a critical article from the newspaper Vitbichi, about an MP Alexander Hudkou, who decided to run for the second term without the agreement of the authorities.

Marhalava explained that she was doing it because she was threatened with dismissal from job otherwise. She was ordered to post these papers by the head of housing economy #22 Halina Prudnikava.

Candidate Alexander Hudkou complained about this fact to the constituency electoral commission. The commission considered the complaint. Prudnikava explained that a ‘well-dressed young man’ had allegedly come to the housing economy and asked to post a leaflet in support of Auchynnikau, and an article about Hudkou. For this he promised a chocolate, that’s why they agreed. Prudnikava says she does not know who this ‘young man’ was and where he could be found. The constituency commission sighed with relief: if no one knows who the man was and where he could be found, and there was no ‘chocolate’ to prove the fact of bribe, there seems to be no violation!

Human rights activists for free elections